Boy Killed During Car Theft Mourned By Hundreds

OTHER NEWS TO NOTE - MIDWEST

February 26, 2000

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - Hundreds of mourners gathered Friday for the funeral of a 6-year-old boy whose dragging death by a car thief ignited outrage. About 800 family members, friends and strangers filled an area church to say goodbye to Jake Robel. On Tuesday, the boy's mother, Christy Robel, left her son sitting in the back seat of her sport-utility vehicle while she ran inside a sandwich shop to get the boy a soft drink. A man jumped into the vehicle, where Robel had left the keys in the ignition. As he began to pull out of the parking lot, the frantic mother tried to yank her child from the back seat. But Jake became caught in a seat belt and Robel lost her grip as the car sped away.